TVR Car Club ROAR 2009

It was time again for ROAR, the TVR Car Club event that is intended to bring together owners of TVR Chimaera sports cars, as well as other TVR sports car models, to have some fun. Ride Drive were in attendance providing free sample session of on–road advanced driving.

The 5th and 6th of September 2009 saw the second TVR ROAR event, which is the annual TVR Chimaera gathering. However, owners of other TVR sports cars were welcome too and again, for the second year running, organisation and direction was the job of Angus McDougall.

Following such a brilliant success of the 2008 meeting, that being held at Moorside Grange Hotel just outside Stockport in Cheshire, expectations were high for this one being just as big, if not bigger, than before. This time, the location had moved south with the venue being Staverton Park Hotel at Daventry, Northamptonshire.

As before, and well in advance of the date, Ride Drive pledged to attend as one of the exhibiting traders. Again, as completed at the previous show, we were to provide those in attendance with a free 20–minute sample of what it is like to participate in a Ride Drive advanced driving experience in their TVR.

When the weekend arrived, the Ride Drive event team were on site nice and early for the first day. This year it was Mohammed Khan, Deamon Johnson and Simon Clowes who were flying the Ride Drive flag. Although the weather was bright and sunny there was a fair old wind blowing, making it quite a challenge to erect the corporate gazebo and keep it anchored on the ground!

Lining up the stand with those of other traders, and even though no side panels were fitted to the structure, weights had to be applied, as well as tying it to cars, to stop the thing blowing away.

Poor Turnout by TVR Chimaera Owners

It wasn’t long before the earlier hopes of another cracking ROAR event paled into disappointment, as by early afternoon it was realised there was not a great deal of interest. In fact, by the end of day–1 the count of TVR sports cars was a total of 33 at a meeting that should have attracted 200 or more.

Angus had arranged for a number of activities for all to enjoy, these having a bit of a It’s a Knockout Feel to them, and hopefully generating a competitive spirit among the TVR Car Club members attending.

For the Saturday evening a black tie dinner had been arranged, during which the various items donated by supporting traders were to be auctioned off with a view to raising money for charity.

For the charity auction, Ride Drive had donated a gift voucher, representing a Full–Day Advanced Driving Experience, but it only fetched £110. This was £125 off the retail value and nothing like the bid performance of the vouchers donated the previous year. By comparison, a Half–Day voucher at ROAR 2008 fetched £110 that on its own!

It was difficult to fathom the problem with the low Saturday attendance. Whilst there were hopes for a better turnout for Sunday, when it came to it there were still only 42–cars that made it on the day. This was despite the better weather with warm sunshine.

One could hardly say the ROAR 2009 event had lived up to previous success, but despite the poor support from the Chimeara TVR Car Club membership, there was a fair degree of interest in what Ride Drive had to offer.

The Free Advanced Driving Sessions Were Again a Success

The Ride Drive team completed several runs with TVR Chimaera owners and as usual everyone who took part appeared genuinely appreciative. It is always the same when we run these free sessions, as people are quietly surprised to find the experience was better than expected.

Many people, when they see the words, Advanced Driver Training, immediately assume they are going to get some sort of a driving lesson in which they are going to be moaned at for crossing their hands on the wheel. However, 5–minutes up the road and it becomes very apparent it is anything but a driving lesson.

What Went Wrong For ROAR 2009?

When looking at it all in hindsight one has to feel very sorry for Angus. This guy always puts his heart and soul into everything he organises, and on that weekend in early September 2009, despite his 110% effort to make ROAR 2009 a fantastic event, he was badly let down.

There should have been more cars there, but there wasn’t. For whatever reason, people just stayed away.

The question of what went wrong is one that will probably not be answered easily. There was no clash with any other event of any significance, there was no lack of advertising, and certainly there was no lack of effort applied by the organisers.

Next year, if he can pick himself up from this big disappointment, we might see something a bit different from Angus. One thing is for sure, and decided upon there and then, TVR ROAR is going back to Moorside Grange in Cheshire. That being the case, Ride Drive will be there in 2010!

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Wednesday, 08-Dec-2010

TVR Car Club ROAR 2009